The Franklin Town Council will hold a public hearing at its June 1 meeting on an agreement with Duke Energy that would give the town access to property for an extension of the Little Tennessee Greenway.
Duke Energy owns 9.06 acres along Siler Road where the utility company plans to build a substation that will “eventually be needed to serve the existing and planned load growth in the area and to increase the reliability and resiliency of electric service.”
Duke requested a development agreement stating the substation could be constructed under the town’s current zoning and development regulations. In exchange, Duke would give the town an easement to develop a connection to the Greenway. The agreement would be for 15 years.
“I don't want to bias us too much in advance, but it's a pretty good deal where we don't have any intent or plans to change the regulation out there to begin with,” said town attorney John Henning. “We feel like we're getting a good deal out of it upon your approval.”
Lisa Leatherman, district manager for Duke Energy, said until about five or six years ago Macon County had the longest greenway west of Asheville.
“It’s pretty phenomenal what our town has,” she said. “I won't digress into the history of how and why it's here, but I think this speaks very highly of the partnership that we have and for the benefit of the public good and keeping folks healthy and happy.”
She said when she lived in town and walked the Greenway she was amazed to see people walking it and carrying their groceries. “It’s pretty vital to the health and well-being of citizens.”
Related to more improvements along the Greenway, during the May 4 meeting the council approved a $207,800 bid for the Cartoogechaye Creek (Allman Drive) boardwalk project.
“We’re very happy with that,” Town Manager Amie Owens said about adding another Greenway connector. “We did have to spend a little more time on this one because it is adjacent to a wetland, which is the reason we are having to do a boardwalk to go above the wetland rather than having it at ground level. The state has approved us as of February with the plans that we submitted.”
The project was first bid out in March, but only two bids were received. It was bid a second time and again two bids were submitted. Backwood Bridges (dba Bridge Builders) was the low bidder; the company is based in Freeport, Florida, but has a Franklin office at Westgate Plaza. The other bid was $266,108.81 from Bryson Enterprises.
Owens said the contract will be added to the budget for the new fiscal year and that the contract would be presented for board approval in June. July 1 would be the start date.
Also at the June 1 meeting, the council will hold the public hearing on the proposed 2026-27 budget, which must be approved before the July 1 meeting. The budget is currently set at $13,869,123, which is a 9.6% increase. Additional adjustments may be made at the council’s budget workshop on Monday, May 18, beginning at 6 p.m. (Note: last week’s article “Council approves new insurance group” incorrectly stated the budget was not balanced.”
The next regular Town Council meeting will be Monday, June 1, at 6 p.m. in the boardroom on the lower level of Town Hall. Town Hall offices will be closed Monday, May 26, for the Memorial Day holiday.